Forever Without
by ChocoholixAnonomous
Summary: Mello and Matt meet at Wammy's house, and quickly become best friends, maybe even something more over the years. The arrival of Near and the ultimate departure of Mello basically turn Matt's short life into a drama-filled soap opera! Joint-fic, MattXMello
1. Wammy's house

**Chapter one: Lollipops to practice  
**

**

* * *

****M****ELLO**

I was sitting against the cold wall, looking around at the other kids surrounding me in the large room. There were at least fourteen, maybe one or two more, and they were all spread around the room, some keeping to themselves like me, others chatting or playing some odd hand-game. I bit my chocolate bar, stretching my legs out in front of me.

The clothes that Wammy had given me before coming here were really comfortable; a loose black long-sleeve shirt and loose black pants. I wiggled my toes, getting bored out of my mind: I had been sitting here for fifteen minutes. One by one, the other kids had been brought in, and the room gradually filled up. But Roger wouldn't start the stupid orientation until _everybody _was here.

We were all waiting for one person, apparently. That old wrinkly fool, Roger, was standing by the door, constantly checking his watch. He looked up at me as I loudly snapped off another piece of my chocolate bar. I met his gaze squarely, staring at him cooly until he looked away. For a nine-year-old, I was pretty confident in my ability to stare down anybody, adult, animal, or piece of wood. Okay, maybe not the last one, but still.

I'm pretty damn awesome.

I was beginning to hate the late person already: don't they _know _that I have better things to do than hang around an orientation that hadn't begun, waiting for them! Well, granted, they probably _don't _know that, but still. It's absolutely their fault that my butt's falling asleep. What felt like forever and a half later, the door opened once more, and another old guy -who I recognized as Wammy himself, the one who had brought me here in the first place- led a boy in by the hand.

I stared at him, as did everybody else in the room. He seemed unsure where to look, since everywhere he looked, staring eyes met his own. He settled for looking down at his feet, which he trusted not to stare back, I guess. I examined him in the same manner I'd examined everybody else: giving them a good twice-over. But none of them seemed to be so interesting as this guy was.

He had messy, bed-head hair in a dark red colour that could _not _be natural, since I'd never seen it before. He was wearing a baggy black and white striped shirt that was obviously much too big for him. He was wearing loose jeans that also seemed to have thin stripes on them -horizontal, of course.

I grinned as I saw the end of a lollipop sticking out of his mouth: at least he was original in his taste in sugar: cakes and sugar cubes are taken by L, chocolate is _mine, _thank you very much, and strawberry jam...let's just say that it's been used. Compared to all the other kids in here, who all looked relatively similar: guys with short hair, girls with hair in pigtails, guys wearing jeans and t-shirts, girls wearing loose dresses or overalls...let's say that the appearance of this new, LATE guy was a breath of fresh air.

He let go of Wammy's hand, and shuffled over to sit against the wall opposite me. He slid down it, stretching out his legs like I did, and took a GameBoy out of his pocket. I raised my eyebrow, and snapped off another piece of chocolate. At the loud sound, the new guy looked up in surprise, and met my gaze. And damnit, I was _not _prepared for that. His eyes were blue -a really deep, ocean blue- and his gaze was so focused and direct that I couldn't look at him for very long.

I casually bit off another piece of chocolate and looked away, pretending that he wasn't amazing enough to keep my attention. A lie of course, he was starting to seriously interest me. He looked back down at his GameBoy, and I slyly observed him, still pretty shaken from his blunt stare, but more intrigued than ever. Wammy started talking, and I kind of listened, more interested in the new guy.

"Welcome, everyone, to Wammy's house." Wammy began. "Each of you children will stay here now, and learn as much as you can. I hope that you all will have a good time here together. I am Wammy, the founder of Wammy's house. This is Roger, the man who will be in charge from now on." he said, gesturing to Roger, who smiled grimly. I had an idea that he'd rather we were all insects than children.

"How about we all introduce ourselves, and say a little something about ourselves, like our age, favourite food and favourite colour. Please remember to use the names you all picked for yourselves, not your true names, alright?" Wammy suggested, and everybody nodded.

"Linda, if you would start?" Wammy suggested, and a girl on the other side of the room started talking. She had light blonde hair and looked pretty normal. Her name was, apparently, Linda, and she liked to draw, hated spiders, and was seven years old. Everyone began introducing themselves, and I remembered all their names, even though I didn't care at all. It was my turn, and I snapped off a final bite of chocolate before beginning.

"My name's Mello. I'm nine years old, I love chocolate, and I love explosions." I said, not looking anywhere in particular until my gaze was caught by the gamer boy. He was looking at me, and I caught a tiny smile on his face. Instantly, I flushed, completely unsure why he smiled: was he making fun of me? I mentally snapped myself in the face for losing my composure, even for a second, and bit down on my chocolate bar again, averting my eyes and zoning out again, although I was subconsciously waiting until the interesting boy would speak. Finally it was his turn, and I looked up as he began to speak.

"I'm Matt." he began, and everybody's heads turned to stare at the newcomer. Of course, everybody here was new, but he was more interesting.

"I like videogames, cars, and I wanna smoke when I'm older." he said, and the kids all laughed. I stared at him. He had a very faint British accent, but I'm sure I did, too, seeing as I'd been in this country for a few months. What I found super funny was that the lollipop sticking out of his mouth probably wasn't because he liked them. It was probably to practice, for cigarettes later on.

After the girl closest to him started to introduce herself, he looked up at me, and once again I was caught in his direct, hypnotizing stare. But this time I didn't look away first, I just stared back. It was actually quite fun, like a staring contest. Finally Matt's GameBoy made a funny sound, and he looked down at it in dismay. I grinned: he'd lost his game by staring at me too long. He pressed a few buttons, then looked back up at me, a funny little smirk on his face. I had a funny idea that this guy would be my best friend. Just because I liked him so much already, and we hadn't even talked.

**MATT**

Mello. That's a pretty weird name, but I guess most people's are in this place. Except for mine. And Linda's. Wammy had explained to me that it was better to use fake names at this orphanage, because most people who graduate become super famous and need to be completely anonymous. So I guess it makes sense. Mello. Somehow it suited the odd boy sitting across the room from me.

Perhaps 'odd' isn't quite the word: he had shoulder-length, perfectly cut blonde hair with ruler-straight bangs, piercing blue eyes that could stare at you forever, and lightly tanned skin. It was the colour of his hair that interested me at first: it was kind of orangey, and very pretty. It took a few moments for me to be sure that he was a boy, because most people would have said that he was a girl. But there was an unmistakable aura of confidence brimming from him, the kind that girls just don't really have.

Or, I'd never met one with that sort of I'm-hot-and-you-love-it attitude. Especially not an eight-or-nine-year-old. I could feel him staring at me from the beginning. I'd vaguely wondered why, but one glance around the room told me that he'd probably already gotten bored of staring at everybody else. The snap of chocolate made me look up at first, and that's when I saw him staring. So I stared back. It almost made me want to laugh the way he looked away casually, obviously pretending that I wasn't amazing enough to keep his attention, but I could tell that that wasn't true.

And sure enough, a few seconds later, I glanced up from under my bangs, and he was staring at me again. Interesting. Somehow, it was kind of like a game, but not as exciting. It was more...fun, I suppose. After everybody had introduced themselves and stuff, Wammy said to pair up with a friend and write down our names in groups of two on a sheet, so we could pick our own room-mates, who we'd stay with for...well...basically, as long as we were here. Everybody immediately began talking, asking people to stay with them and things.

I noticed that Mello made no move to ask anybody, he simply ate his chocolate bar, snapping pieces off dramatically as he seemed to always do, looking absent-mindedly out the window. But I had a funny feeling he was watching me again. Not in a creepy way. In a way that seemed to mean he was making sure that I didn't get to be anybody else's room-mate. Just as I beat the twelfth level (I had been playing the whole time, of course), a skinny boy with glasses came up and asked if I'd like to be his room-mate.

I could feel Mello's penetrating gaze on me as I looked up and shook my head apologetically, murmuring something indistinguishably like 'I'm sorry, I already...um...' The boy frowned in confusion, and I dreaded having to explain exactly why I couldn't be his room-mate (I didn't even have a real reason).

But I was saved by, surprisingly, Mello. An especially loud snap of chocolate breaking made the bespectacled boy jump and turn. Mello was glaring at him fiercely, almost _daring _him to stay next to me any longer. A small squeak of fear was the last I heard of the boy before he was one.

"Once you and your room-mate have signed up, please follow Roger so he can show you to your rooms." Wammy called, and soon all the other kids had left out the door, chatting excitedly. Mello and I stayed where we were, sitting against our respective walls. I occasionally glanced up at him from under my bangs with every level I beat. He was wiggling his toes, chewing his second chocolate bar. His gaze locked suddenly on my own, and I flushed, caught staring, and looked back down to my game. Wammy, who was just leaving, suddenly looked up and saw us.

"Matt? Mello! Do you two not have room-mates?" he asked. I slowly lifted my gaze from my GameBoy and looked up at Mello. He raised his eyebrows at me, like a playful challenge. I grinned and told Wammy that we didn't. He blinked at me, and crossed his arms behind his back, smiling from me to Mello and back.

"Well then, you two ought to room together. I'm sure you'll get along famously." he said as Mello dramatically snapped off another piece of chocolate. Mello slid up the wall to his feet and stretched, clutching his chocolate bar in his hand.

"I'm sure that we will." he said as he crossed the room. He locked eyes with me and offered me a hand. I took it, and he pulled me to his feet.

"Good, good. You two will be in room number thirteen, then." Wammy said, and lead us out the door.

**MELLO**

I don't know why I did it. Honestly, I really don't. I suppose just the idea of Matt -who already seemed like the most interesting person in this dump, by far- rooming with Teacup (lamest dude EVER!) was just repulsive. I knew it was worth my while to intervene: Matt shot me a look of pure gratitude after I'd chased away the glasses-wearing fiend. We walked together in silence to room number thirteen, and Wammy unlocked the door with a large old-fashioned key as me and Matt watched. He was a little bit shorter than me, but then, he was probably a little younger, too.

"Okay, boys," Wammy said as the door swung open to reveal a small room with two beds, two desks, two chairs, two wardrobes, a mirror and a large window, "your luggage should be brought up soon. Please be in the main dining hall for announcements and dinner in two hours." he said, patted each of us on the back, then left. I glanced at Matt, but he wasn't there: he was already flopped down on one of the beds. I raised my eyebrows and grinned; he was _just _like a puppy. I closed the door and flopped down on the other bed, digging in my pocket for another chocolate bar.

"So," Matt began, and I looked up to see him looking at me, his chin propped up on his hands, elbows buried in the blanket. "I guess we should get to know each other a little..." he said, trailing off as I looked at him. It suddenly occured to me that he could be shy. I grinned and rolled over, snapping off a corner of my chocolate, my sugary, melt-in-your-mouth saviour.

"Sure, Matt. D'you wanna play 20 questions?"

"What's that?" he asked, puzzled, and I stared at him.

"Seriously? You've never played? You're missing out!" He didn't comment, so I just explained how to play.

"Well, we play rock-paper-scissors to find out who asks a question first. Then we each take turns until we've both asked twenty. You _have _to answer, and you _have _to tell the truth, no matter what. If you don't...well, you're supposed to, so..." I frowned, thinking. Were there any penalties in 20 questions?

"So...so you just should?" Matt finished, and I looked up to see him smiling.

"Yeah. That's right." I said, stretching.

"So, let's play rock-paper-scissors first." I said, and raised my fist. He copied me, and finally (after six ties) I won. "Okay, so now I ask the first question." I said triumphantly, and he pouted, but seemed ready, too.

"Okay. What's your real name?" I asked. I knew I was testing him. If he was lame, he'd say that we weren't supposed to, and he might go tell Roger or Wammy that I'd tried to find out, bla bla bla...but if he was awesome, then he'd just tell me. I glanced up to see his expression. He had paused his videogame, for once, and was looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"You know I'm not supposed to tell you, right?" he asked. I sighed.

"I know, if you don't-"

"Mail Jeevas. That's my name." he interrupted, and went back to his game. I blinked at him.

"Mile?" I asked, and he looked up with a small grin.

"It's pronounced Mile, but it's spelt M-a-i-l, like a letter or a postcard." he said, and I laughed.

"That's a cool name." I said, and snapped another piece of chocolate off my slowly shrinking bar.

"My turn," Matt said, and to my amazement, he switched off his game. Like, 100% off.

"Wow, you must be interested." I said, gesturing at the black screen. He rolled his eyes at me and tossed the GameBoy off his bed.

"What's _your _real name?" he asked, looking at me in serious interest. I glanced up at him then answered.

"Mihael Keehl." He blinked.

"How the heck's _that _spelled?" he asked, and I laughed.

"M-i-h-a-e-l K-e-e-h-l. My turn. Why do you want to smoke when you're older?" I asked. Matt, or rather Mail, and he smirked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Cuz it looks hot." he said, the arrogant smirk still in place on his boyish face. I was suddenly struck by an epiphany: no matter how 'normal' he had seemed (aside from the lollipop and videogames), Matt was actually...cocky. And arrogant. Even though he was shy. Interesting combination. I grinned at him, somehow liking him better with everything he did and said.

"Suuuuure...I always thought it was gross. And it stinks like hell." I said, snapping off another piece of chocolate. Matt rolled his eyes.

"Well whatever. Why do you eat chocolate so much?" he asked, and I laughed.

"Just for the endorphins. Aaahhhhh...and the sugar rush? Seventh Heaven. Plus it's sexy." I said, and he snorted.

"Of course it is..." he said, rolling his eyes. I smirked, but actually, I was feeling quite uplifted: fifteen minutes, and I was already thinking that this guy was gonna be my best friend. I guess I'm easily pleased.

"My question now," I said, and Matt grinned at me, lying on his stomach with his feet in the air. I kinda like the way the beds were positioned: Both with one end against the opposite wall from each other, like we'd been sitting in the bigger room only twenty minutes ago, or something.

"Why are you here? Like, here at Wammy's?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"Beats me. I guess you could say, because I'm an orphan and my foster mom was raped and murdered recently? I had nowhere to go, so...here I am." he said, so casually that I was quite impressed with his nonchalance over such violence. I tried my hand at being polite. "I'm sorry about that. Poor you." I said, and Matt gave me a funny look before laughing.

"Stop it. Being sympathetic doesn't suit you." Fine by me, it's uncomfortable and irritating.

Makes me feel all fluffy and nauseous inside.

Yuck.

**MATT**

"Stop it. Being sympathetic doesn't suit you." I said, quite truthfully. Although it really was rather nice of him to go out of his way to actually be sincerely sympathetic, it looked like he wasn't used to it: he made this funny face and twisted his hands together. His nose scrunched up slightly, and he avoided my eyes, as if looking at me would convince him that what he was trying to do was dumb.

After I said it didn't suit him, he relaxed and rolled his eyes, but definately seemed to agree with me. It true that I had only known him for, what, half an hour? But still, Mello seemed to me like the most...normal person out there. Normal by my standards, I suppose, not by society's: he did what he liked, and didn't particularly care if anybody else wanted him to or not, he didn't pretend to like people, he looked and acted how he wanted, and didn't seem to put on an act for anybody. I had a feeling that if he ever decided he wanted to punch me, instead of refraining from doing so for my sake, he'd probably do it as hard as he could, then (maybe) apologize later.

"Why are _you _in here?" I asked, and Mello looked up at me, a piece of chocolate between his teeth. He chewed it slowly, probably thinking of how to say it without terrifying me. Or maybe not. "I never knew my parents. Well, I suppose I must have known my dad, but my mom died when I was born, and my dad hung around the hospital for a bit, then left in his car without me. Apparently, he drove off a cliff a few hours after that. So I was put in an orphanage, which was...blown up recently." he said, not totally meeting my eyes. I laughed, and he scowled at me.

"It's not funny, you know." he said, but his mouth was curving up at the sides, like he didn't want to get mad at me.

"I know, I know," I said, running a hand through my hair. "It's just I got this weird feeling that _you _blew up your old orphanage. That's all. I'm sorry about your parents, though. But just think! You never knew them at all, so maybe you don't miss them quite as much as you could?" I said, trying to cheer him up, but I knew I was failing miserably. He probably knew this, of course.

At my words, Mello burst into laughter. It was rather cute, I suppose: he rolled over, covering his mouth, scrunched up in a ball, and kicked his legs as he laughed. Cute, like a mutated, laughing hamster. Well, actually, he looked ridiculous. As I watched him, I started laughing too. I tried to stop: it felt rather unnatural, since I hadn't laughed in a good two months, but I couldn't.

Oh, God, I really was laughing: I was giving these tiny little snorts, I could feel tears forming at the corners of my eyes, and my ribs started to hurt, but every time I looked at Mello, who was by this time surely laughing at _me, _I burst into another round of laughter. If laughter really is good for your abs, I bet I'll have a sixpack in a couple years, just from laughing with Mello.

It's pretty contagious.

* * *

Hope you liked the first chappy! oh, btw, all Mello parts are written by the amazing and wonderful Sailor-Nova343, and all Matt parts are written by the not-quite-so-amazing me! yeah that's why their shorter...that's ChocoholixAnonomous for ya...:)


	2. Chocoholic

**Chapter 2: Chocoholic**

**

* * *

**

**MATT**

Two hours later we were sitting side by side in the main dining hall, which was on the first floor, unlike our room. Wammy himself had left just after showing us our rooms, and so Roger was the one up on the little stage making announcements through the microphone.

"Welcome, fourth generation of L, to Wammy's house. Now that you've settled in a bit, you must choose your letters. The letters are what you will write on every piece of homework, every test, every essay that you write in this school. There are not to be any doubles, meaning that if two of you (forgive me for forgetting your names already) were called Doorknob and Dormouse, both of you cannot use letter D! There are also some letters you cannot use, since they are used already, and are well-known..." he cleared his throat and looked down at a paper.

"Those letters would be A, B, and, of course, L. Please try to pick letters that are close to L in the alphabet. After dinner, please will you all write your letters next to your name on the board at the back of the room. Enjoy your meal." Roger finished hastily, then made his way offstage. Mello raised his eyebrows at me.

"He doesn't seem to like us very much, does he?" I said as we stood up to fill our bowls with stew. Mello laughed.

"I don't think that bag of wrinkles likes anybody." he said, and I laughed with him. When we sat back down to eat, a girl I sort of remembered from the other room, Linda, leaned over and asked if she could draw us because we were so pretty. That alone made me and Mello snort into our stew, but when two other girls joined her asking what room we were staying in, how old we were, if we'd like to get married to them when we were older, I couldn't take it anymore. I spoke over their voices authoritatively (well, probably just loudly), making them shut up.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, ladies, but I'm afraid that I am not worthy of your attentions..." I began cooly, but I caught Mello's eyes and had to hold in my laughter: he was watching me with his eyebrows raised, biting down on his wrist to stop himself from howling with laughter. "...because...because...I'm...I'm asexual!" I said, so loudly that the whole table heard. They all stopped eating and stared at me. In the silence, Mello couldn't control himself any more and burst into uncontrollable laughter. I cleared my throat, turning red as I busied myself with my stew, stabbing Mello in the side with the end of my spoon to make him shut up.

It didn't work. At all.

We both signed up for the letters before everybody else did, because Mello said if we didn't we'd get stuck with crappy letters that nobody would ever remember. He called M before me, so I rolled my eyes and took J, because of my last name. Officially, I vote that J is more awesome than M, but if I ever told Mello that, he'd probably kick me.

When everybody had finished dinner, Roger came back up to the old microphone for 'one last quick message about rules and classes'. I was playing level 12 at the time and didn't hear much until Mello gasped beside me like he was having a heart attack, the bar of chocolate clutched in his hand dropping to the table with a quiet bang.

"What's wrong?" I asked him in an undertone, saving my game and switching the GameBoy off. Mello turned to look at me, his face a mask of horror.

"He...he said that we're not allowed food that _melts _in classes...he said _especially _not chocolate! For some shitty reason like it stains carpets... What the hell does he expect me to do, then? I can't think without it!" Mello said, almost hysterical.

"It's okay, Mello," I hissed, grabbing his arm and making him look at me, trying to calm him down.

"We'll just smuggle it in and then you'll be fine, right? If he doesn't know, and you don't drop it on the carpet, then it's all cool, right?" I asked, sipping my chocolate milk through the straw, still looking at him. He grinned at me.

"Yeah! That's a good idea...seriously, Matt, you're like my best friend." he said, snapping off a piece of his beloved chocolate. I grinned at him.

"Well you're my best friend, too.

When we got back to our room, I quickly flopped back down on my bed and grabbed my GameBoy out of my pocket, switching it on immediately. It had saved (thankfully) to level 13, which I quickly began to beat, naturally. Mello fell down onto his bed, snapping off a piece of his chocolate. There was a comfortable silence for a few moments before he asked what flavour my lollipop was. I looked up to see his eyes locked on mine.

"Uhm...You know, I'm not even sure. Here," I said, taking it out and tossing it to him. He caught it, impressively by the stick, and he looked up at me in surprise.

"You want me to taste it?" he asked.

"Well duh." I said, shrugging and continuing my game. A few seconds later, the lollipop flew back and I caught it.

"It's cherry, dumbass." Mello said, and as I turned I caught the big smirk on his face as he pulled a videogame out of his bag. After a few seconds of listening to the sound, I realized he was playing Mario. A classic, but...pretty girly, especially for somebody as...Mello-ish as Mello. I couldn't help it, I snorted with laughter, and the next thing I felt was a Nintendo DS hitting the back of my head.

I turned my head just enough to see Mello, who wasn't facing me. What a baby, he's freaking pretending it wasn't him! Jeez...I smirked and silently grabbed the pillow from my bed, making little enough sound that Mello wouldn't know I had moved. When I was sure he wasn't expecting it, I flung it straight at him, hitting him hard. He toppled over, face-first onto his chocolate bar.

"What the fuck!" he exclaimed, looking up and laughing. I immitated his previous behaviour, pretending that it wasn't me. I heard him mutter 'what a baby', and I snorted, stealthily pausing, saving, and turning off my game. Just because. My pillow-fight senses were tingling. Surprising, since I'd never had a pillow-fight before. But whatever, I'm sure everybody can sense when a well-stuffed pillow is about to get flung at your head.

Three seconds later, my senses had been proved correct. I spun around, laughing, and flung the pillow back, along with my stuffed bear Alec Brown New Still-head New Neuton the Nuke, straight at his face, causing him to fall backwards. He flung both pillows back, as well as Alec Brown New Still-Head New Neuton the Nuke, and a large grey monkey with a red heart on his head at me. Now, I'm not a very competitive person generally, but I don't like to lose.

Mello, as it turns out, will not take anything but first place.

So it wasn't that surprising when our pillow-fight ended with him sitting on my stomach, pinning my arms down with his feet, eating a chocolate bar.

"You're fat. Get off." I said, and he snorted.

"I'm not fat. I'm sexy. Get your facts straight, Jeevas." I rolled my eyes. But I suppose he was right: he wasn't fat in any sense of the word. In fact, I guess he was skinny.

"Sexy or not, you're heavy. Get off." I said, rolling over, making him fall off of my bed. He landed with a thump and an 'Ow' on the floor. I crawled over to the edge of the mattress to see where he was, when his arms looped around my neck and pulled me down on top of him. I stared down at him, unsure what to do. He was staring up at me, apparently just as unsure about what he had done as I was. Suddenly the door to our room opened, and one of the girls who had been pestering us at dinner appeared. Her eyes widened as we both stared at her. Suddenly she squealed and ran aways, singing something about 'an adult mood'. I looked back down at Mello and started to laugh, getting off of him. I helped him up and flopped back down onto my bed, grabbing myself a new lollipop.

"So, what letter did you pick?" I asked as I unwrapped an orang-flavoured one. Mello grinned, rolling over on his own bed.

"Guess, dummy." I rolled my eyes.

"M?" I asked, and he nodded.

"No shit, Sherlock." I laughed. Not because it was funny.

"That's _so_ overused. Get some creativity." I ordered, and Mello looked up at me.

"Fine. No poop, Poirot." he said, with such a deadpan face that I couldn't control myself: I burst into laughter, so hard that I had to rub my eyes for the tears. Just from watching me, I suppose, Mello started laughing as well.

As I thought, rooming with him might give me abs of steel.

**MELLO**

The next day, we had our first classes. Me and Matt were in practically all the same classes, so I thought that we'd be together most of the whole day. Apparently, I was kind of wrong. Roger had explained to us that we could basically do what we wanted, but if we were causing problems for others, or not doing very well on tests and things, he'd have to step in.

Matt, evidently, had taken that to mean that he didn't have to get up for breakfast or first class, and that he could kick whoever tried to get him out of bed. But no. I made my way to my first class, which was some kind of discussion-about-unsolved-cases class, all alone.

It was okay, kind of boring, but I knew that I was totally going to be the best, and to be the best, you had to work hard, so I listened as hard as I could, sneaking a bite of chocolate every so often. The teacher was skinny..._too _skinny, and rather pale, as if they'd never even seen the sun, let alone gone tanning. My second class was gonna be about two and a half hours, and it sounded boring as hell: human behaviour studies. Urgh.

About an hour in, I had a page full of notes, two empty chocolate bar wrappers, four bars confiscated (the teacher was a bitch with a pole up her ugly, fat ass) and my head was on the desk. Of course, the nasty old bat came along and hit me on the back of the head with a ruler.

"Stay awake, young man!" she trilled, and I gave her a death glare. Suddenly the door opened, and in strolled Matt. I had to admit, he sure knew how to get the attention of the room, even without saying anything. It was probably something to do with the casual confidence in his walk. Or maybe it was because he was an hour late, for the second class of the day.

"And where were _you?_" the teacher asked Matt, whose hands were buried in his pockets, no sign of any paper or pencils on him. He looked up into her eyes. The moment that hag of a woman blushed, I knew what he was doing. I rolled my eyes and dragged the chair next to me away from the desk. That slow-ass Matt. He'd better be grateful I saved him a spot- I had to chase away at least six girls who wanted to sit next to me. I looked up again to see Matt still talking to the teacher, who seemed to have forgotten everything about demanding why he was so late.

"...so I'm sorry if I disturbed class, Ms Em..." Sorry, my ass. I wordlessly reached up, grabbed his arm, and tugged him down into the seat next to me. Miss Em seemed to give herself a little shake, then furiously continue on the subject of human behaviour, and why jealousy is natural in every personality, blah blah blah.

"So you finally woke up." I muttered to Matt, who grinned at me.

"Yeah. I was kinda awake until four playing Call of Duty. So...yeah." he said, grinning at me apologetically. I raised my eyebrows.

"Uh-huh. 'Cuz I totally understand what 'Call of Duty' is." I said, and he smirked.

"Well, Mister Mario," he said in a low voice as Ms Em's watchful gaze fell upon us again. "First of all, it's a videogame..." Geez he's so cocky.

"I _know _that." I snapped, but couldn't help myself from smiling. "Ugghhh I hate this teacher..." I moaned as the first few symptoms of chocolate withdrawl hit me.

"Why?" Matt asked, and I glowered at him.

"She took my chocolate." I said, and he raised his eyebrows.

"Geez, that sucks to be you...Too bad you don't have an awesomely hot and amazing person hanging around who happens to have a bar or two on them..." he said, propping his chin up on his fists, elbows on the table. I nodded, looking out the window with a sigh. And then I got it. I turned and stared at him, a smile creeping on to my face. No way...

"You...seriously?" I asked, and he looked at me, a small smirk on his face. Then he winked, so fast it was over in less than a second. After a few seconds I got bored of looking at him, so I began to doodle chocolate bars and sundaes and smores all over my page. I was so engrossed I almost forgot about the real chocolate that Matt had smuggled in for me (_almost _forgot), when he kicked me in the leg. I bit my lip, holding back a couple rude words as my hand met the cool, comforting foil of a thick bar of dark chocolate. Heaven.

Thank God for Matt.

And, naturally, ten minutes after arriving, his feet were on the desk, his chair was inclined away from the desk, and he was leaning back, playing something like Mario on his DS, a lollipop stick poking out of his mouth. Typical Matt. And somehow, his stupid puppydog eyes had hypnotyzed the teacher to totally ignore any misbehaviour from him. Grudgingly, I had to accept that he was a pro at what he wanted to be. But if he never payed attention, I doubted that he'd ever get the best grades.

Two weeks later, we had our first history test. Matt showed up for three out of eight classes, and did a fifth of the homework assigned. I was at every single lesson, writing notes like crazy, and used the library computor past ten-thirty doing homework. I got the best mark in the class, 9/10. Matt got the second best mark. 8.5/10.

FML

Lucky for me, Matt turned out to be the least competitive person in the whole world. Or at least, the least competitive person I'd ever met. He seemed perfectly content just to sleep most of the day away, and spend the rest of it gaming. Or teaching me how to play video games that _weren't _Mario with him. To tell the truth, once I'd gotten over how annoying it was how lame the violence was, it was kind of...really fun. And addictive. Lucky for me, I _am _competitive, so I wasn't about to spend the whole day in front of the tiny screen and leave my homework unfinished. Because if I did that, somebody might beat me in the next test. And that was just a heinous thought.

Totally awful.


	3. Nearly there

**Chapter three: Nearly there**

_

* * *

Time Skip: 2 years_

**MATT**

I woke up this morning at ten thirty. A little early, for me, but of course, Mello was already gone to class. I grinned to myself as I hauled my still-sleepig body out of bed: he's such a striver. He spends practically all his daytime in class, eating chocolate, and studying. But of course, after dinner, it's 'Matt time'. Let's just say that that's my favourite part of the day.

Mello's birthday passed a few weeks ago, and he made this big announcement to me that now that he's eleven, it means that he's seriously growing up and he has to be totally cool. Like he wasn't before. I shook my head as I stumbled over to my chair, where I'd slung all my clothes from the day before. I changed quickly, despite still being half-asleep.

Mello's always getting stressed out about silly things. Like a few days ago, he came bursting into our room at eleven-something (it was crazy for him- that's halfway through his favourite class!), shook me violently until I woke up (not my favourite way to arise from slumber), and demanded that I cut his hair, and cut it _beautifully_. Until the first day he'd asked me to do that, about a month after I'd first met him, I'd never cut anything with scissors other than paper, string, and fabric.

So it was a little stressful, because Mello insisted that he only trusted _me _with cutting his hair, but also that he'd _literally die _if it looked bad. I sort of understood: Mello's hair is, in a word, awesome. And he's very serious about it. So serious that he doesn't even trust the hairdresser that comes to the orphanage once a month anywhere _near _his head. I grinned to myself as I pulled my stripy shirt over my head. Since I'd first got it in the set of clothes that Wammy had given me when I told him I liked stripes, I'd grown into it a little.

'A little', meaning that it was still loose, and the sleeves still went over my hands, but not as much as before. I brushed my teeth furiously (lollipops are worse for your teeth than chocolate) and splashed water in my face to wake myself up. Although we didn't exactly have a bathroom in our room, we'd figured out a way to basically have a sink: there was a tap installed in every room in case you got thirsty in the middle of the night and didn't want to go all the way down the stairs to the kitchens.

So in our first year, Mello had used a bit of his allowance to buy a large dog bowl to go under the tap, and I'd bought a mirror for the wall. So, while it might not look too pretty, it works, and it makes everybody jealous. I ran a brush through my hair quickly before tugging my goggles up from around my neck into position on my eyes, grabbed my ds, a couple lollipops, one of which I stuffed into my mouth, and I was out the door before you could think of saying anything.

Four minutes later found me in one of the few classes I had that wasn't with Mello (one of the low points of the day, I'll admit). I can't exactly remember what it's called (Mello would laugh if I ever told him that), but the ugly teacher goes on and on and on about the difference between police tactics and L's tactics. Basically he drones on and on about how much better L is than the police.

I walked in, glanced at the clock, smirked when I saw that there were only ten minutes of class left, and walked to my usual seat near the back where I stretched out, put my feet on the table, and took out my DS. The teacher merely paused for a moment as I got settled, then continued. He'd given up on lecturing me and yelling at me after the first five tests that I'd gotten almost 100% on. I say almost, because I got behind Mello, who never gets 100%. He always gets 0.5 away from it, or something dumb. It's a touchy subject with him.

As I settled into my game, watching as the START menu came up, along with the theme music, I felt eyes on me. Serious eyes. Creepy eyes. And a presence on my right. Which was odd, seeing as Mello was definately _not _in this class, and nobody sits next to me normally because I'd just ignore them completely. So this was new.

And a little scary.

I slowly glanced up from under my bangs so they wouldn't know I was looking at them. The first things I saw were two pale, bare feet. One of them was on the chair and the other was hanging off the floor, implying that the person was pretty short. The feet were mostly covered by what looked like the bottoms of white pyjamas. Confused, I looked higher, to see two pale hands playing with a Transformer. Weird. That's the only word I could think of. When I finally got to the face, I jumped: he was looking back at me, his dark eyes fixed on mine and the _creepiest little smile _on his pale, pasty face.

And his hair was white.

Also weird.

"I'm Near." he said as soon as he made eye contact with me properly. Completely used to weird names by this time, I wasn't totally freaked out, but Near was still pretty...unique.

"Um, hi...I'm Matt...You're new this year, right?" I asked, mostly not caring, but wanting to be somewhat friendly: what if he was lonely? What if he was really shy and being weird was the only way he knew to make people take notice of him? Near smiled and nodded, twirling his hair around a finger enthousiastically.

"That's cool..." I said, not quite sure what else to talk about, so I focused on my game. Near, however, seemed to have the lowest possible amount of social skills, and seemed not to get that I was done talking to him.

"D'you wanna be my best friend?" Near asked quietly. I looked up at him.

"S-sorry?" I stammered, sure I had misheard. Near looked straight at me, reached out a hand, and patted me on the head, ruffling my hair.

"You are cute. Like a puppy. I like you. Would you like to be my best friend?" he asked, just as quite and serious as he had been the first time. "Err..." I was still feeling a bit like I was on glue.

"Well, it's nice of you to ask, but...I already have a best friend!" I said, snatching at my rather pathetic creative inspiration to get me out of this situation: It wasn't that I _disliked _Near. But, as I said, I already had a best friend.

My confidence swelled as I thought of Mello and what he would have to say to Near: Mello's been getting a _little _protective of me lately. In a cute, funny kind of way.

For example, I was walking down the hall with him yesterday, and a girl who just came here was looking at me and smiling. I smiled back, to be polite, but Mello wouldn't stand for that. He (believe it or not, it's true) put out his arm, stopping the girl, looked her in the eye and told her to 'keep her unworthy little eyes' off of me. I had a funny feeling that Near, no matter how much he didn't care or understand general social skills, wouldn't stand a chance against Mello's...Melloness. There really isn't a word that sums up exactly what Mello is. He has almost _too much _initiative, has absolutely no conscious, and doesn't care shit about what other people (besides me, of course) think of him.

He's just too cool for you, I guess.

Anyways, so Near looked a little put-out, but not totally subdued.

"Who cares if you already have a best friend? I bet I'll be a better one." he said, flying his Transformer through the air as the teacher announced we could do homework for the last five minutes of class. Once again, I was speechless.

"Er...er...um..." I said, sucking on my lollipop in an almost panicked way. "Well...well...how about you meet him, and then...and then...and then he can tell you...er..whatever he wants to." I said hastilly, then, for the first time since...ever...I busied myself with homework.

_In class. _

This might not sound like much to you, but I was freaked out enough that I was willing to do _work _to avoid talking to Near. Near, finally, seemed to get the hint, that I was not in a chatty mood. Or maybe he got bored with me and thought his toy and his hair were far more interesting after all.

The bell could not ring soon enough for me. As soon as the clock struck eleven-ten, I was out of my seat, my page of notes (half-full) crumpled in my pocket, and I was out the door before anybody else was standing. I almost sprinted down the hall, with only one word occupying my thoughts: Mello.

Now, I'd never _ever _admit this to him, but Mello's braver than me. I mean, he's not scared of the dark. I am. He's not scared of yelling at people and them yelling back and hitting things with rulers and general noise. I am. Or, I'm bothered by it: I don't really like to argue, unless it's with Mello. He's not scared of spiders. I am. He's not scared of creepy strangers. I am. So there I was, loping speedily down the halls, looking for the familiar head of awesome orangey-blonde hair, cut by me.

Finally I spotted him, a piece of chocolate in his mouth, leaning against a wall, looking around darkly. When he saw me, his eyes lit up, and then he waved casually, looking away. I smirked to myself: Mello could be cute sometimes. Like how he'd always look for me between classes, but whenever he actually found me he'd pretend he _hadn't _been looking. Anyways.

"Hey Mello!" I said, leaning against the wall next to him before sliding down it to sit on the floor.

"Hey, Matt. You're up early." he teased, snapping off a chunk of his chocolate. I sighed; that sound was so familiar now, it was the most comforting thing to me.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Just had the shittiest class of my life. Some creepy albino kid called Near came along and asked me to be his...oh crap, here he comes. Help me, okay?" I asked quickly, and before Mello had a chance to ask me what the _hell _I was talking about (I knew that's what he'd say), Near was standing in front of me, looking just as odd as he had before, his Transformer still in his hand, one finger twirling a chunk of his curly, white hair, his crumpled white pjs baggy on his small frame. Now that I thought about it, he looked younger than me.

"Is that him?" Near asked me. I looked up. Near was pointing, quite rudely, at Mello, who was glaring between him and me. I couldn't help but grin as I met Mello's gaze.

"Yeah, that's him." I replied, sucking my lollipop. Near gave Mello a critical, yet bored, once-over.

"You're my competition?" Near asked. Mello crossed his arms.

"For what?" he asked challengingly, and I silently cheered: Mello rules! Yaaaa~y! I mean, _I _could never think of anything _half _so cool to say. Near smiled again, the kind of smile you normally find on Joe Boxers happy-face underwear. You know the one I'm talking about. The half-circle one that is physically impossible for most people to make.

"To be Matt's best friend, of course." he said, and Mello almost choked on his chocolate.

"You want to be Matt's best friend?" he asked, and I could have laughed; Mello's confidence had slipped to his ankles momentarily. Probably because Near was so odd.

"Yes. I like him. He's cute. And he's pretty. He has nice hair, and he's going to be my best friend." Near said, stating it as if it were fact. Mello snorted.

"And those are your only reasons? How pathetic. If you seriously want to try and be a better friend to Matt than I am, you're gonna have to work a _lot _harder. There's a lot more to Matt than just nice hair and cuteness. So, bring it on, Snow White. Get ready to lose." Mello said, snapping off another piece of chocolate in the most dramatic way possible before hauling me to my feet and dragging my down the hall to our room, leaving Near behind. I was actually quite touched that Mello stood up for me like that.

It's nice to know that I'm not all cuteness and nice hair. Self-esteem goes up two points! Actually, since it's Mello that said it, it's more like up thirty points...

**

* * *

**Hi! I know this chapter is all Matt, but it was neccisary, 'cuz he's the one that meets Near first. Mello will probably take up all of the next chapter, as he begins to compete with Near in more ways than one! Thanks to everybody who liked, reviewed, faved, subscribed, etc, this fic! We both really really appreciate it!

Please review!

Lots of love, Sailor-Nova X chocoholixanonomous


	4. Happy Birthday

**Chapter four: Happy Birthday  
**

_

* * *

_**MELLO**

Who the fuck does this little albino twit think he is? So he wants Matt to be his best friend? Fat chance. Matt is way too awesome to be with somebody so...I'm not sure if there's a proper adjective to describe him! Geez...

I was snapped out of my reverie of annoyance by Matt, who asked where we were going. Crap I totally forgot I was walking somewhere. Oh well.

"Outside." I said, and I heard Matt gasp dramatically. I laughed, and had to glance back, because I knew he'd be making a funny face; we, or moreover, _Matt, _never goes outside. It's not that he's allergic to air (and I would know: I got a pillow to the face when I asked him one time), and it's not that he doesn't like nature, because he does. He'd just rather be inside. It's probably something to do with his dislike of noise, which you generally find in playgrounds and busy streets.

I pushed open the double doors of the school and dragged Matt over to the swingset that most kids played on during lunch. Luckily it was only break, so there were only about ten kids hanging around, including us. I sat Matt down on one of the swings (he was laughing as I did this), then sat down on the one next to him. There was a brief moment of silence.

"Soo...what do you think of your 'competition'?" Matt asked teasingly. I gave him a look, then snorted condescendingly.

"_Near? _Oh please. Unless you like him better than me, there's no competiton whatsoever." he said decidedly. I turned to look at Matt again, watching him swinging slowly, looking at his feet. I hated to ask this but...

"_Do _you like him better than me?" I asked quitely, watching his feet as well. Matt looked up at me, scrutinizing my expression.

"Do you really think that I'd ever choose Near over you? Do you really, honestly think I could ever do that?" Matt asked. I looked up at him, but didn't say anything.

Well, knowing Matt, he probably wouldn't do that to me, but... I was so lost in thought that I hadn't realized that Matt had gotten off of his swing and was standing in front of me. I looked up at him in surprise, but couldn't say anything. Wordlessly, he leaned down and hugged me. It took a second for me to realize what he was doing, but I hugged him back tightly.

"Mello...I'm still surprised that somebody as amazingly cool and awesome as you has self-esteem issues." Matt said, his voice muffled in my shoulder. I laughed loudly.

"Yeah, yeah...Well, I'm still surprised somebody who _looks _as brave as you do is actually a total baby." I said teasingly.

"Shut up." Matt grumbled before letting me go. I laughed and jumped off my swing. "Let's go inside. I know you don't really like it out here, and I want some chocolate." I announced, grabbing Matt's arm and leading the way.

**MATT**

_The next day..._

Today is my birthday. It totally is. I'm now a young, attractive sex toy, aged 10. When Mello turned ten, he made this whole announcement about how he was growing up, and how being ten years old is a huge fat deal. According to Mello, it's uncool to be a total virgin once you're ten. I thought about this as I walked down the hall back to our room. Mello was still in class, but I got bored and left, looking forward to some serious gaming when I got back on my bed.

Well, really, me and Mello had been sharing a bed for ages, so it's _our _bed. I almost laughed, thinking how appalled this uncute girl who just came, can't remember name...something like 'Turd' or 'Tulip'...anyways, she was all appalled when she heard me call Mello a fucking sexbomb. I guess it's surprising that we know these cool words and we know all about sex, even though we're only ten and eleven. It's really Mello's fault, though: if I'd never talked to him (how awful!) I'd only ever know 'crap' and 'shit'.

But Mello told me that if we didn't know about these things now, when we grew up, we'd never get anywhere because everybody would take advantage of us, thinking that we were totally uneducated in the ways of the world. So, back to being a ten-year-old total virgin. I considered how to cure myself of this awful trait. I'd asked Mello what he'd done to rid himself of his 'total virginess', but he'd said that I'd get mad if I knew. So I didn't press him, although I suspect he kissed Linda.

I opened the door to our room and flopped down on our bed, whipping out my gameboy. I felt something pressing against my collarbones, and I grinned, realizing that the orange goggles Mello had given me as a birthday present were still around my neck. I smiled to myself, thinking again how nice it was of Mello to give them to me, and pulled them up over my eyes, making sure my hair covered the straps, because otherwise they'd look dumb. Mello had insisted that the goggles made me look hot.

So I wore them all day, only taking them off to rub my eyes. I had promised myself that I would wear them for the rest of my life. I stuffed a cherry lollipop into my mouth, switched on my DS, and started playing. About three hours later, I decided to go to the bathroom. I kicked the door open and walked slowly down the hall, concentrating on my game. I strolled into the bathroom, not exactly looking around much. I mean, what is there to look at in a bathroom...that anybody would particularly _want _to look at? Especially this bathroom...eugh.

I glanced up briefly once I passed the sinks when I noticed somebody standing in front of me. One glance at the PJs told me it was Near.

"Oh...hi!" I said politely. Near was playing with his hair, as always. He looked up at me slowly, then gave me this little smile. The little smile he has, which is kind of...cute, in a creepy way. I smiled back at him awkwardly, not wanting to be mean, but I also knew that Mello would kick my ass if Near ever told him I was nice to him.

"Happy Birthday, Matt." Near said quietly, walking closer. I saved my game and stuffed my DS into my back pocket before shoving my hands in my pockets too: it was a little rude to play when somebody's talking to you. Not that I care, but Near has a nasty habit of smashing my game to the floor when I don't pay attention to him.

"Has Mello done anything to you lately?" Near asked hopefully. I...honestly, I wasn't sure how to take that question. I looked at him uncertainly through my orange glasses.

"Er...well, he punched me yesterday because I accidentally tripped him..." I said awkwardly. Near nodded, looking satisfied.

"I see. So he hurts you. Do you like being hurt, Matt? I think you do, otherwise you wouldn't be with Mello. You'd be with me." he said. Once again...not sure how to take that. I remained silent, but I was pretty weirded out. Near twirled his hair.

"Has Mello done anything...nice to you lately?" he asked finally. I glanced up at him, somehow not needing to use the bathroom anymore (not for _that _reason, geez...)

"Um, what do you mean nice? Mello's always nice." I said, trying to edge away from him casually, tossing my empty lollipop stick into the trash. Near stepped forwards.

"This kind of nice...I bet he hasn't done _this _yet...which means I'm winning..." Near whispered. Before I could realize what was going on, he'd grabbed my shirt, pulled me forwards, and was kissing me on the mouth. I guess it wasn't my coolest moment ever, because I...I kind of zoned out. I suppose I was just...totally surprised.

Anyways, right at the second he kissed me, the bell rang, ending the last class. With Near's mouth still pressed to my own, I vaguely wondered why on earth Near, the hardest worker around (besides Mello, naturally..._Nobody _works as hard as Mello) was doing skipping class to do this to me.

I eventually zoned back in when I sensed that somebody else had entered the bathroom. I looked to my right, Near still kissing me. I suppose I really should have moved away, and slapped Near or something. It just didn't occur to me. My stomach dropped to my knees when I saw who had just walked in. And who was staring at us. Near pulled away, still keeping his hands clenched around my shirt. He smirked at the newcomer, and licked his lips slowly.

"I win, Mello." he said teasingly. In that instant, I knew he'd gone _way _too far. And I was right. Mello's fist came out in a blur, and the next second Near was against the tiled wall, his lip bleeding. Mello was against him faster than I could see, pinning him against the wall, punching him in the face repeatedly. Finally, I moved.

"Mello, stop it!" I shouted, trying to pull him off of Near, who looked...a little worse for wear, to put it lightly. His own fault, of course. It was all on purpose.

"Why?' Mello snarled, not looking at me. I felt a pang in my gut, knowing that I was in serious trouble. I felt horrible, now seriously regretting not pushing Near away immediately. I still didn't understand why I _didn't _shove him off of me, swear at him, maybe hit him, and go. I don't know why...

"Why? You scared I'll _hurt _him?" Mello snarled again, and I bit my lip.

"No, that's not it." I insisted, trying to think of a good reason for Mello to stop. He didn't care if he got in trouble, or if Near got seriously hurt, so...

"What if you get all sweaty? You'll stink for the rest of the day, and I will _not _allow you to sleep with me if you reek." I said seriously. To my relief, Mello froze, obviously thinking about what I'd said. He sighed, still not looking at me, kicked Near in the shin for good mesure, and walked quickly out of the bathroom, flipping off the crowd that had gathered around the door. I followed Mello after hastily patting Near on the head (well...what was I supposed to do!).

Mello had slammed the door before me, but I opened it easily; he seemed to think that if he barricaded the door, I'd know he was putting effort into being mad at me. So he just ignored me, snapping off a bite of chocolate and flipping through a magazine. An upside-down magazine, but a magazine nonetheless. I sighed, unwrapped a new lollipop, and switched on my game, sitting on the floor. There was a really long silence. For the first time since...since I'd met Mello, he really, seriously, was ignoring me. After about half an hour, I was trying not to cry, because, in all honesty, it really was all my fault that Mello was mad at me.

Finally, Mello rolled over, seemingly bored with ignoring me. He rolled over enough that his arms hung on either side of my shoulders, and his head was resting on top of mine. I was quiet, having wiped the tears from under my goggles away ages ago. After a while, Mello spoke.

"Did you like it?" he asked. It took me a minute to understand what he meant.

"What?" I asked, looking up. Mello's expression was undreadable, staring back down at me, his eyes very dark. He looked away.

"Did you like it? What he...did to you?" he asked, and I raised my eyebrows when I saw he was blushing.

"Um...I don't really know." I said, honestly. Mello glared at me, so I clarified.

"I mean, I've never been kissed before, so I don't know if it was good or bad. I don't think I _disliked _it, but I hate that it happened. Because it made you mad at me." I said quietly, switching my game off without saving, which to me, is practically a sin.

But Mello's more important. He always has been, and he probably always will be.

"Oh." Mello's quiet for a bit. I turn around, and cautiously crawl onto the bed with him, not quite certain if he's forgiven me enough to allow me up with him. He didn't move, so I took it as a good sign.

"Well..." Mello began, but left it hanging for so long that I forgot he'd said anything at all. Finally, I looked up at him, noticing that he'd moved closer. "Well...if you tell me you liked it...then...I..." I frowned at Mello, but I couldn't ask him what he meant: the next moment, my mouth was unusable for anything like talking.

Mello had moved so close that he had pressed his mouth to my own. But it was different than Near's. For one thing, Mello tasted good. Like chocolate, naturally. Near kind of tasted like...plastic. Mello just kissed me like that, softly, still, for about five seconds, probably to make sure I was okay with it. Then he leaned forwards, pushing me down onto the bed, following, so he was lying on top of me, one of his hands on the side of my face, the other slipping my goggles up my forehead while his tongue licked at my lips.

In surprise, I opened my mouth, and he slid his tongue in. It felt really...odd. But when he ran his tongue over my own, it felt really good, and I made this weird sound, like a meow. I began kissing him back, and I wrapped my arms around his small waist, holding him close to me.

Finally, he pulled away, and I gazed up at him breathlessly. His expression was _very _different than before; he looked totally shocked, but also pleased with himself. I didn't need a mirror to know that I was probably blushing. It was a bad habit, Mello told me, because it meant that girls wouldn't like me. But he had also said he didn't give a shit if girls liked him either, so... Mello crawled off of me, and crossed his arms. I sat up, too.

"Well? How was _that_?" Mello asked smugly. I almost laughed. I could lie to bother him, but then...no.

"Well...on a scale of one to thirty, Near's kiss officially gets a two." I said, and Mello frowned slightly, as if annoyed that Near hadn't gotten a negative integer.

"However," I continued, grinning. "His points come from his skillful surprise attack. The kiss itself was absolutely sucky." I finished, and Mello grinned at me, before clearing his throat and hugging his pillow to his chest awkwardly. "And...what about..." I knew that he'd be too embarassed to continue, so I just answered his unasked question. "Chillax, Mello. That was...you are a very good kisser. A total sexbomb." I said, blushing a little bit. Well, it was an awkward subject, so sue me. Mello laughed before pouncing on me and kissing me again.

* * *

Hope you liked the chapter! Please review!

Love, from, Chocoholixanonomous + Sailornova343


End file.
